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The Cistercian monks were consummate scribblers and in one account they state that, whilst in Palestine, Dom Henrique ‘venerated the Sacred Places’ and, in return for his faithful assistance, a grateful king of Jerusalem — Godefroi de Bouillon — gave him custody of various holy relics, including the cloak of Mary Magdalene Jerusalem. His timing coincided with the arrival of the Crusading army, dusty from months of laborious march through the Levant. Count Dom Henrique’s adventure is rarely acknowledged in history, and yet his travels are asserted by a chronicler of the Cistercian Order. The Cistercian monks were consummate scribblers and in one account they state that, whilst in Palestine, Dom Henrique ‘venerated the Sacred Places’ and, in return for his faithful assistance, a grateful king of Jerusalem — Godefroi de Bouillon — gave him custody of various holy relics, including the cloak of Mary Magdalene. A later account by a member of the Templar Order goes so far as to state that Dom Henrique ‘was known by Pope Urban II, who named him as one of the twelve leaders of that sacred expedition.’ Dom Henrique made a second voyage to Jerusalem in 1103. This time it coincided with the arrival of two proto-Templars: Hugues de Payns and Count Hugh de Champagne. Originating from the same Duchy, it is likely Count Dom Henrique
that both Hugues and Dom Henrique got to know each other well over the next three years in Jerusalem, especially as both men shared the vision of a temporal new kingdom accountable only to God. With Dom Henrique was another man of French parentage, Pedro Arnaldo da Rocha, born in Santarem (in what is today’s Portugal), whose family, la Roche, were supporters of the burgeoning Cistercian Order. In time, the abbot of this order, Bernard de Clairvaux, would become the Templars’ main benefactor. Young Pedro Arnaldo’s presence in Jerusalem was opportune, arriving as he did shortly after Godefroi de Bouillon installed members of the secretive Ordre de Sion in a rebuilt abbey on its namesake hill. To say he made a favourable impression on the monks is an understatement, because by 1116 Pedro Arnaldo resurfaces as a full member of the Ordre, his signature inscribed on an original document from the Abbey de Notre Dame du Mont de Sion, in which he is addressed in Latin as ‘Prior Petrus Arnaldus’. Such a position imbued Pedro Arnaldo with immense political leverage. The abbey had established close ties with the knights and monks in the nearby church of the Holy Sepulchre, right from the time both fraternities were installed by Godefroi de Bouillon. It therefore afforded the Prior direct access to two Temple Mount in Jerusalem, first headquarters of the Knights Templar individuals who had been living there: Hugues de Payns and Godefroi de Saint-Omer, the nucleus of the Order of the Temple. That relationship was revealed on 19 July 1116, when a document, signed by both Prior Arnaldus and Hugues de Payns, declares ‘good relations are assured between the two Orders.’ In the relationship between the Order of the Temple, the House of Burgundy, the Ordre de Sion and the incipient Portuguese kingdom, Arnoldo da Rocha would prove to be the lynchpin. He was Portuguese by birth, his friendship with Count Dom Henrique granted him favour within the Portuguese court and, through his family’s status, connections with the nobles and ecclesiasts in and
Page 1 and 2: Editor-in-Chief Andrew Gough editor
Page 4 and 5: The best-selling author, researcher
Page 9 and 10: This is how we got involved. Dan Br
Page 11: originally surnamed Prince. The edi
Page 14 and 15: A portrait of Elias Lönnrot Still,
Page 16: us ‘was very expert and… invent

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